The secret to teaching baby sign language to your child has more to do with your understanding that the language paves a path for richer and lifelong communication between you and your child than it is just an ordinary language. It’s also important to bear in mind that the learning journey once embarked on, will transcend their present age as well as their young minds/perspectives.
The child who learns sign language can be the adult who easily embraces ASL and eventually the deaf culture simply because as a child, they got a glimpse of sign language and enjoyed the process.
Let’s explore some interesting tips to help you teach baby sign language to your child.
First Tip: Start with Basic and Regular Signs
In teaching baby sign language, there’s no need to bombard your child with a lot of signs. First, teach the signs for words that you know your child will make use of regularly, then if you see the need to add more words as time goes on, you can do that.
Every new sign addition should be gradual and not make you deviate from the simplicity of the language and learning process.
Remember because they are babies, they shouldn’t be taught sentences just yet.
Second Tip: Incorporate the Signs Into Daily Routines
Image by Sean dreilinger on Openverse
Following the first tip, a sign in baby sign language is regular if the child sees and uses the word(s) it represents at least twice or thrice a day. It will be much easier for your child to get accustomed to a sign if he can attach it to a particular task(s) at any time of the day.
Third Tip: There’s a need for Eye Contact
Do not only show your child the signs for each word you want them to learn, instead, smile at them as you show them these signs. Communicate first with your eyes before you commence using the various hand gestures there are for the signs in question.
Fourth Tip: Play as You Teach
How do you react to a baby who doesn’t play, whom you are told doesn’t like to play and wouldn’t play at any time of the day? I guess you’ll doubt if that’s indeed a baby in the first place. Well, because they are babies, playing is a major part of their lives. So, why should you exempt it from this aspect of their life (which is learning)?
Even if not all the time, for as often as you can manage, play with your infants as you teach them baby sign language. Wriggle your nose or shake your body. If they start doing those movements later on as they sign, what’s the harm in it? They know the sign and that’s all that matters.
Fifth Tip: Use Videos and Music
Part of the play session, while you teach your child baby sign language, could be showing them baby sign language videos. Do these at unexpected intervals so that your child looks forward to it and doesn’t get disinterested in it.
As for the music, you can simply play a happy song in the background during sign lessons and your child might likely associates the music to the lesson.
Sixth Tip: Lessons In or Out of Routines Should be Kept Short
It doesn’t matter if you want to stick with only using activities in your daily routines to teach your child or if you prefer setting aside a particular ‘signing time’, the lessons should be made brief. It may seem to you that the child is not grasping the signs, well, rather than making the lessons longer, keep them short but frequent.
Seventh Tip: Include All Adults in Your Circle
Don’t be the only one teaching your child baby sign language. Let the adults in your circle (who are in regular contact with your child) be made aware of what you are doing and the timeline you have set and then go ahead and encourage them to join in helping you teach your baby these signs.
Once your child knows there are many people involved, they would want to belong to the community. You’ll be surprised to learn that having a sense of community starts for humans at quite an early age.
Eighth Tip: Make Advancements as Your Child Progresses
Babies grow. So, if your child has gone on to learn and can use several signs from baby sign language, begin to teach that child simple sentences in ASL.
Do not stop at baby sign language simply because they are kids. Instead, mark their progress and make advancements in your lessons. Why do you think some toddlers understand ASL? They were allowed to grow in their learning.
Ninth Tip: Use Speech while Signing
Do not only teach your child with the hand gestures and with your eyes, communicate with them while signing by speaking the words out loud. This will help in their vocabulary building too.
Tenth Tip: Learn ASL
This last tip is as essential as the rest. You’re more equipped to teach your child baby sign language if you’re proficient in ASL. Baby Sign language has its origin in ASL and can be viewed as an abridged version of ASL.
An important reason why it is encouraged that you know ASL is because you’ll find it easier to teach your child baby sign language. You can come up with improvised signs for words in ASL for your baby that will fasten the process for them to learn ASL when they are bigger.
Conclusion
There aren’t only ten tips for teaching baby sign language to your child. You may choose to use the ten or less, or come up with other useful tips that will help. What’s important is that when your child learns the language, you can communicate better with them.
Learn ASL today with SignBee Academy if you have no clue where to start from. While it might not be a big first time for some people, it can be the major step nonetheless that makes this teaching exercise worthwhile.
While your baby struggles to take that first walking step, it would be lovely to also look forward to their first sign.
Thumbnail Photo Credit to: Image by Photosteve101 on Openverse
